One Photograph
by Varmint
Summary: Even though everything seems hopeless, it doesn't mean one should stop hoping. One picture proves that to the disjointed and fractured Temari and Kankuro. Sand Sibling centric. Hint of Baki too. And Kankuro angst, like always. Trigger warning for alcohol abuse and self harm. Angst and Fluff!


"Fuck off!"

"No, Kankuro! I will not stand for this!"

"Stay the hell away from me, you stupid bitch! I don't want you anywhere near me!"

The slamming of a door, causing the frame to shake. Then, the violent pounding and kicking of the door. After that, the deceiving calm before yet another storm broke out.

"Kankuro, you damned fat ass! I swear, if you've got _anything_ that can be used as a weapon inside that room-"

"Stay the fuck out of my room if you don't want to spend a night in the goddamned hospital!"

"You dumb fuck! I'm only trying to do what's best for you!"

"I don't give a shit what you think, Temari! I'll do whatever the fuck I want to do to myself!"

"It's not healthy!"

"Well I don't give a flying fuck! I do whatever the fuck I please!"

They were always arguing. Why were they always arguing? It didn't make sense. Weren't they supposed to be family? Shouldn't family love and not hate?

"I swear, you bastard, if you have _anything_ dangerous in there-"

"You'll what? Kick my ass? As if I care! Fucking bitch, why do you think you can just muscle your way through me?! We're not kids anymore!"

"Then stop acting like one!"

Even more pounding on the door. Temari continued shouting at Kankuro to let her in. But he just ignored her.

Gaara couldn't understand how his siblings could do this so much. It seemed as if, no matter how good the week, at least one day would be spent shouting at one another. At least one day of utter destruction for their home in which they didn't care who or what got in their way.

His siblings could be so destructive...

With a soft sigh, the red haired Kazekage stood up from the kitchen table and made his way up the stairs to his own room. He could go to the balcony from there.

Just like his siblings, he had a routine for these nights. He would listen to the majority of whatever argument there was between Kankuro and Temari, then, once sure they wouldn't kill each other, he'd walk out to the balcony of his room and look over his village illuminated by stars and the moonlight. It helped keep him sane and at peace. Seeing the serenity of his home helped balance out the turbulence of his _home_.

But... Maybe today would be different. He had planned for this to happen, after all. And if everything went how he expected it would, their small family may just be able to heal tonight, rather than just allow anger and hate to fester and grow.

* * *

He didn't like the way Temari shouted at him. Nor the way she tried to boss him around. Nor the way she acted as if she knew a thousand times more than he did. Well, now that he thought about it, he didn't like Temari when she was acting like a big sister. When she acted like a friend, everything was fine. But all the trouble started when she began to act as if she had some right to control him and Gaara.

He _didn't_ like being bossed around. He'd never accepted it easily back when he was kid. Much less now that he was actually able to fight back.

"Damn that stupid bitch, I can do whatever the fuck I please..." He growled to himself as he tore his room apart looking for his stash of alcohol, throwing his hood off of his head in his anger. "If I want to drink, I'll fucking drink! If I want to fucking cut myself, I'll the use sharpest thing I can fucking find! Fuck you! You're not my mother! Never have been and never will be!"

He just couldn't understand why Temari couldn't leave him alone. It wasn't as if she was his mother! She had no right to try and control him! She had no right to tell him what to do! Their mother was _dead_ and no one would ever be able to change that!

"Damn it! Where're my drinks!?"

He tore his room apart looking for the different stashes he kept. From underneath his bed, one that was covered with dark and soft sheets, all the way to his closet by the left side of the room. He checked the nightstand to the bed's right, the dresser to its right, and even the floorboards hidden beneath said dresser. He found his bottles, but they had all been drained from alcohol, and it hadn't been by him.

That bitch! How'd she gotten into his room to do all this shit?! She wasn't supposed to be able to enter her room! He had defenses set up against her and Baki!

"Fuck this!" He shouted, then tried his last hope for a drink.

An old trunk full of childhood mementos he just hadn't had the heart to throw away that rested at the foot of his bed. He knew that he had once placed a bottle of a nameless alcohol he had been given as a thank you gift after he and his brother and sister had finished up with a mission.

When he opened it, he was bombarded with a sudden sense of nostalgia that made his chest tighten. There were a lot of things in here he'd much rather ignore like, the 'teddy bear' Gaara had made for him before he'd gone all psycho. Or that one drawing he'd made that detailed him, his siblings, Baki Sensei, and their father as a big happy family. One they truly weren't.

"I don't need this shit in my life." He grouched to himself as he did his best to ignore the childhood memories and the feelings they stirred up. He had only one mission. And that was try and find the alcohol he knew he had stashed in here a long time ago.

But the more he looked, the less that mission stayed clear. He'd always been an emotional person. He hated it, but it was true. And pushing around all of these old things made him long for the simpler times. He hadn't known how truly evil the world was, even though it was. He had been ignorant. And he would give anything to be ignorant once more.

"Huh?" That hadn't been there before. That picture of them was recent. But he'd never seen it before. "What's this? How'd this get in here?"

The puppeteer picked it up and brought it closer to his face, examining the people in the picture. It was all three of them, alright. He had both his arms thrown over Temari and Gaara, she smiled and he glared. He was caught in the middle of an honest chuckle, while Temari pointed at Gaara and the red head glared up at both of them.

This had been taken on the day of Gaara's coronation. Before they had devolved into screaming matches that took up a good chunk of their nights.

It brought tears to Kankuro's eyes to remember how happy he had been back then... How happy he wasn't anymore...

* * *

Kankuro could be so infuriating! Couldn't he understand that all she truly wanted for him was the best?!

In a fit of anger, Temari punched the beige colored wall beside Kankuro's door, causing cracks to form. Then she stormed off to her own room, passing through halls filled with pictures of them growing up, and threw her hands up with a final shout, "Fine then! Kill yourself! See how much I care!"

The little bastard could be so infuriating! Why couldn't he ever just listen to actual reason?

She was the older sibling for a reason! Because she knew more than he did!

"Little bastard can't see what's good for him!"

The blonde threw the door to her room open with a loud slam, then closed it with another. She didn't care of the damages she could be creating to the house. All she cared about was trying to get rid of her anger in some manner.

Her room was much like the rest of the house. Sparsely furnished, with dully colored walls, and only a few trinkets and objects to truly personalize it. Her bed was pushed up against the back of the wall opposite her door, a nightstand beside it, and a dresser pressed up against the wall of the door. There was a closet's door to her left, but she didn't pay much attention to it usually. She didn't have much time to fuss over clothes after all.

Running over to her dresser, she looked for her parchment and paintbrushes. It was on these nights that she wrote to Shikamaru, told him about how much she longed for leaving this stupid desert to go and live with him in the lush forests of the Fire Country.

She hated it whenever she and Kankuro fought. She knew how far it drew him away from her and Gaara. She knew how much it hurt their youngest sibling to see them fighting. But she just didn't know how _not_ to fight with infuriating prick! The harder she tried, the farther Kankuro pulled himself from them. And, in turn, the farther Temari wanted to go to get away from both idiots.

She loved her brothers, she really did. But she couldn't deal with this anymore. She needed to get out.

"Where's my damn papers!?"

She couldn't find them. No matter how many drawers she pulled, she couldn't find her customary tools. But when she pulled at the last drawer of her desk, she found something. Not her tools. Something that made her anger evaporate immediately.

"Is that... is that us?"

With unsure fingers, the blonde grabbed the photo and straightened up, looking down at it with wide eyes.

It was them. Back in Gaara's coronation. She was wearing the nice dress Shikamaru's mother had recommended for her and looked happier than ever. And Kankuro actually looked cleaned up and nice for once with a broad smile that could light up even the darkest of rooms. Gaara was glaring slightly, but she could see the ghost of a smile on his face. She had no idea who had taken this picture, but whoever it was had managed to catch them in a moment none of them had been paying attention. Through this, they looked natural and earnest.

"What happened to us?"

Everything had gone so wrong so fast... Now they were so far apart it seemed that they were on different _continents_.

"I have to fix this. I have to fix us."

* * *

"Temari can't go into my room, even if she wanted to. You were the little shit that threw out my booze."

Gaara knew his brother would be coming. He just hadn't been prepared for him to be so early about it. His need for alcohol was more than Gaara had previously thought.

"It was a necessary evil."

"Do you have any idea just how much that cost me?"

"Do you have any idea just what it is costing our family?"

Kankuro silenced himself and looked away when Gaara sent him a scathing look. Kankuro may have been older, but Gaara had always managed to keep a better lid over his emotions.

"I don't need you hounding on me like Temari." He murmured, even though he refused to look at his younger brother.

"I am not going to hound you." The red head admitted, "I just wish to open your eyes to what you are doing to all of us."

The older male crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the floor, "I know what it's doing..."

"Then why do you continue to do it?"

"Because it's the only way to escape this hell hole we've managed to create." Kankuro hissed with a sharp glare, but it softened when he noticed that Gaara wasn't about to back down. "I found your picture."

"I knew you would." Gaara took a few steps closer to Kankuro, his facial features softening. "Kankuro, you're in pain. I know. That doesn't mean you have to be alone. Don't isolate yourself from us. We're _family_."

Kankuro's brown eyes swam of hurt and indecision, but they turned scathing for a second. In that second, Gaara could see what Kankuro wished to speak, but would never allow himself to do so. 'Says the one that had no idea what that word even meant up until a few years ago.' He had thought this many times before, undoubtedly, whenever Gaara tried to help him and his sister. But he'd never say it. He would never allow himself to hurt his brother that much. And for that, Gaara was thankful.

"Gaara, have you seen..." Temari burst in through the balcony with wide eyes, but stopped herself when she found herself face to face with the brother she had shouted at before. "Kankuro..."

The puppeteer turned so he was facing her, but refused to look her in the eyes. That didn't stop her from throwing her arms around him though.

"I thought you had left for good when I couldn't find you in your room." She whispered, eyes closing. "I found your picture. And I'm sorry."

Kankuro wrapped his own arms around his big sister and closed his own eyes. He didn't say anything. Gaara knew it was because he was close to tears. He had always been the most emotional one out of the three of them.

" _My_ picture." He cleared his throat to catch Temari's attention, which made her look at him in surprise. "Speaking to you did nothing. I thought that reminding you of the good times may just help you get through the-"

She was hugging him tightly before he could even finish his explanation of his successful plan.

"Kankuro, get your lazy ass in this hug too." The eldest of the three growled, thrusting her arm out to allow her brother space. "I need to hug my brothers and beg for their forgiveness."

The puppeteer walked slowly, "You're not the only one..."

Gaara had never been one for physical affection. But he rejoiced in the feeling of being wrapped up in a three membered hug with his family.

* * *

The next morning, Baki entered the Kazekage's home with a stack of papers he needed signed as soon as possible. He had expected to find a usual scene before him, one that usually had Kankuro and Temari arguing over who was to make the food or wash the dishes while Gaara sat at the table with his arms crossed and eyes closed.

Instead, he found Kankuro offering to make their breakfast, only to have Temari offer to wash the dishes afterwards.

They were smiling and getting along.

"So your plan worked, huh, Gaara?" He asked with a smirk of his own, which made all three teens notice that he had entered through their backdoor, the one that led directly to the kitchen.

The red head smirked at him. Temari and Kankuro both greeted him warmly. He was pleasantly surprised by all of this.

"Thanks for the picture." The youngest spoke earnestly, but Baki only waved him off.

"No problem, kid."

"Wait, that was Baki's picture?" Both Temari and Kankuro were shocked, which didn't surprise Baki at all.

"Who else do you think could have gotten such a perfect picture?" He smirked at them, leaving them slack jawed, then turned to Gaara. "I need your signature on these forms, Kazekage."

"Of course." The teen nodded, although a mischievous smile appeared on his face. "But that can wait. I say we take today for a family vacation."

"I second that motion!" Kankuro ran up to him and grabbed the stack of papers, smiling broadly.

"And I third it!" Temari agreed, sidling up beside her old teacher to throw an arm around his shoulder. "How about we go and visit your favorite bar, Baki?"

"No bars." Kankuro shook his head, placed the papers on the table Gaara sat at, then smiled softly. "Why don't we go somewhere without alcohol, huh?"

"Sure thing. Gaara, where should we go?" The blonde turned to her youngest sibling, who merely blinked at her in surprise.

"Isn't it a bit early to be going anywhere? We have yet to even eat breakfast."

"Breakfast! You're a genius, little brother!" Kankuro gasped as he moved over to his brother, then pushed Gaara out of his chair. "We're going out for breakfast!"

Baki never thought he'd get to see the day when these three acted like they once had... But he was extremely grateful to have been proven wrong. These three deserved to be happy after the lives they had lived. He was just glad he was able to be part of that happiness.

 **Please review.**


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